Funding sought in this year’s budget, alongside updated eligibility criteria, could increase housing options for New Yorkers cycling between jail and shelter.
Gerard Romo/NYC Council media Unit
Advocates rallying ahead of the Department of Correction’s executive budget hearing May 17.An effort to increase housing options for New Yorkers cycling between jail and city shelters has stalled for more than three years—an impasse the City Council and criminal justice advocates hope to break in the impending city budget.
Meanwhile, a tweak to housing eligibility rules would open up an even broader universe of options for this population. Together the reforms could help drive down the city’s jail population, ahead of an impending 2027 deadline to shutter the notorious facilities on Rikers Island and replace them with four new jails.
“This mix of people—people who are cycling to the streets, to shelters, to Rikers, to hospitals and back again—our commission is really focused on trying to help stop that cycle,” said Zachary Katznelson, executive director of the Independent Rikers Commission tasked with helping the city meet its 2027 mandate.
“Housing, and supportive housing in particular, is an essential piece of that,” he added.
